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Summer is peak produce season, and Associated Retail Operations banners — Macey’s, Lin’s, Dan’s, Dick’s Market and Fresh Market — are adding Utah love to the produce department with its Local Farmers Markets program, which launched July 1 and has been successful in increasing produce sales and guest count in each store

The in-store program includes signage highlighting Utah-grown produce and the farmers who supply them, as well as parking lot tent sales on Saturdays.

“Buying from Utah farmers and growers allows us to offer our guests the freshest produce at great prices, since it doesn’t have to travel as far,” Danni Barnhart, produce manager for Associated Retail Operations, said in a press release. “As locally owned retailers, it is important for us to support other local businesses, especially our farmers and growers. Our guests love that we offer a wide variety of Utah grown products.”

The Local Farmers Market program is made possible through a partnership between Associated Retail Operations and 33 Utah farmers and growers, including Bangerter Farms, Houwelings Tomatoes and Hartley’s Best Onions.

Each of the farmers is GAP certified or in the final stages of achieving the certification, which was set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of the new food-safety regulations. The program aligns with industry trends that show local is the new organic according to consumer preferences.

Italy’s Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy (Mipaaf) has announced a deal has successfully been completed to regain access to the Canadian table grape market, which was blocked in 2010.

In a release, Mipaaf said the agreement follows the successful outcome of evaluations from Canadian phytosanitary experts who visited the country in October last year.

The inspectors visited fields in the southern Italian regions of Basilicata, Puglia and Sicily.

In summary, the ministry said producers and exporters interested in shipping to Canada would undertake the necessary steps.

“This is a major achievement for the whole Italian table grape sector, and is the fruit of the work of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy in close cooperation with producer associations and regional institutions,” Mipaaf said.

Baldor Specialty Foods and Whole Foods Market announced a collaboration that will make the company’s selection of unique culinary items available to home cooks for the first time through an in-store, digital kiosk called The Baldor Forager, which will launch exclusively on July 26 in coordination with the grand opening of Whole Food Market Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY.

When The Baldor Forager launches, it will satisfy the growing demand for wild mushrooms, heirloom produce and other items that were once the secret of the metro area’s top chefs. The Baldor Forager’s digital interface will encourage exploration, discovery and a retail experience focused on customization. Shoppers will be able to place their orders conveniently at The Baldor Forager kiosk and return for in-store pick-up in a day or two on average.

The Baldor Forager is tailor-made for an era when retailers must compete for the business of an increasingly sophisticated customer. Despite surging interest, specialty ingredients are rarely available through brick-and-mortar retailers. The inaccessibility of these items is reflected in search results, where two of the terms most commonly associated with a wide array of specialty ingredients are “where to buy” and “substitute.”

Baldor will curate items based on uniqueness, seasonality and popularity with celebrated restaurants like Estela and Daniel. At launch, offerings will include fresh, water-grown wasabi root, white strawberries and an unusual variety of lavender-hued mushroom from France called a Bluefoot.

“High-quality, specialty produce has always been the core of our business,” TJ Murphy, Baldor chief executive officer, said in a press release. “We’re really passionate about the items available through The Baldor Forager and can’t wait to share them with a new audience.”

“At Whole Foods Markets, we’re all about constantly improving the customer experience,” Tony Rajaram, Whole Foods Northeast produce coordinator, said in the release. “We know our customers want to try new, special and exotic ingredients; however, it has been a challenge for us to stock fresh, unique produce items that are very fragile and have a short shelf-life. Now, our customers have the ability to order these items and have it delivered to the store, retaining the integrity of the product. The Forager is going to let us accomplish this simply and efficiently through our in-store kiosk.”

The new Whole Foods store will also feature Gotham Greens Ugly Greens, greens and herbs that are slightly imperfect on the outside and perfectly delicious on the inside. To help further reduce food waste, the store will be introducing an Imperfect Produce program, offering customers the opportunity to purchase select cosmetically challenged produce at a lower price.

Sprouts Farmers Market is expanding the food waste diversion services it receives from Quest Resource Holding Corp. Quest designed and deployed a comprehensive organics recycling program at all California stores, ahead of new mandatory commercial organics recycling regulations.

The program reduces food waste by diverting produce, dairy, bakery, bulk, deli and juice bar items that cannot be sold or donated. The retailer now recycles food waste that cannot be donated at 125 stores.

“Responsible retailing is part of Sprouts’ DNA, and we are proud of what we’ve achieved in the past two years working with Quest,” Carlos Rojas, senior counsel for Sprouts Farmers Market, said in a press release. “Our organics recycling program not only benefits the environment, but improves store operations by minimizing waste. We also are pleased to be well ahead of the CalRecycle regulations compliance date.”

“Quest is delighted to expand its relationship with Sprouts, one of the fastest growing retailers in the country, and continue to help them reach their sustainability goals in California and across the country,” Ray Hatch, Quest’s chief executive officer, said in the release.

Quest’s organics recycling program converts food waste into nutritional animal feed additives or compost, helping to prevent greenhouse gas emissions and reduce waste in landfills. Quest developed custom online and in-store training to help educate and engage store associates to ensure program is successful.

With small volumes of Sumo Citrus, Gold Nugget and Tang-Gold mandarins set to hit the market this season, Freshmax Australia is peeling ahead of the curve when it comes to consumer trends Down Under. But the company’s ambitious planting program includes an export strategy too, as GM for category and integrated supply Andrew Maughan tells Freshfruitportal.com.

With its “lumpy-bumpy” skin the Sumo Citrus-branded mandarin is a far cry from the smooth citrus normally seen at the supermarket, but that’s exactly the kind of point of difference Freshmax is looking for.

After all, Maughan says the company is now reaping the fruits of labor that has been ongoing for the last 10 years to grow and market protected varieties.

It’s a philosophy that spans a wide range of produce items under the group’s umbrella, and in citrus the big bet has been on seedless cultivars.

“We think that seedless easy peelers will become market standard in Australia in the not too distant future, and it’ll be non-negotiable to have seedless or very low-seeded fruit in this marketplace,” the executive says.

“In Australia we’re only just starting to get these seedless varieties into commercial volumes.

“There’s been exceptional growth in demand for easy peel and seedless fruit. It’s a rapidly growing category through North America, Europe and the U.K.”

Freshmax licenses the Sumo Citrus variety from Suntreat Packing & Shipping Co.in California, and the ultimate goal is to be a counterseasonal supplier back into the North American market while also working with the partner to aim for year-round supply into a variety of Asian countries.

Freshmax’s Sumo Citrus-branded fruit

“This year we intend to be doing a few shipments in a small trial back into North America with both airfreight and seafreight. We did a little bit of airfreight last year, but that becomes cost-prohibitive when you start talking large volumes.

“We’ve commenced some small export programs into Southeast Asia, and done more work with developing export markets.

But with only around 25-30% of the 150 hectares of Sumo Citrus actually producing fruit, the bulk of volume will be staying in Australia for now.

“There are some trees that are just being planted now, so peak production is not going to hit with these current plantings for another four to five years’ time,” Maughan says.

“Sumo Citrus has ranged with Woolworths supermarkets in Australia for the last three years – it’s been exclusively through that retailer up to this point of time.

Going for gold

In mid-August, Freshmax will also start supplying another rough-skinned mandarin variety called the Gold Nugget.

“It does have a coarse textured skin. Initially it was a real negative or challenge to the variety as it’s not that smoother, fine-textured skin.”

When trees are in the juvenile stages, as many are now with 20% of the 100 hectares in production, the fruit tends be lumpier.

“But once the tree gets a little older it does settle down and produces a smoother piece of fruit. It is lighter in color than an Afourer or a Murcott is, but it creates a really good marketing point of difference,” Maughan says.

“It doesn’t have the top knot and it’s not as lumpy as Sumo Citrus is, but it’s certainly quite a coarse piece of fruit that is very unique.

“What’s good is you can have Afourer or Murcott on the shelf and have Gold Nugget on the shelf at the same time, and have a very easy distinction and point of difference. It’s seedless, it has an exceptional flavor – very sweet – and it’s a great eating piece of fruit.”

As there are currently only small volumes, Freshmax will probably only be selling the Gold Nugget variety over a four to five week window.

“It won’t be in every supermarket in every state at this point of time, but in time it’ll have the ability to be in the marketplace for a few months at least.

“And depending on production in the later areas that could give us some category extension for supply. You’ve got a fairly big window for maturity from harvest so you’re not pigeonholed into a small time window…it has good shelf life as well.”

The Gold Nugget is a product of the University of California breeding program, and is genetically seedless unlike the Tango – registered as Tang-Gold in Australia – which was bred to be seedless through the irradiation of budwood.

Freshmax is an Australian licensee for Tang-Gold as well, and Maughan is particularly bullish on the variety’s future.

“For Tang-Gold we have our first little bits of small-scale commercial volume this year, with a dozen or so pallets, but those pallets are going to grow very significantly and quickly,” he said.

“There will be 400 hectares of Tang-Gold in Australia, tree caps have pretty much been filled and tree plantings are going on pretty seriously now.

“Over the next two to three years we’ll see the vast majority of those hectares all planted. In five years’ time that’ll be a pretty significant player in this market.

Maughan highlights Australia’s geographical advantage for exports of all three of these varieties into Asia, and also how Australia’s diverse range of geographies and micro-climates allows for a long citrus production window.

“Within Australia there are several different growing regions which gives us the opportunity to have a pretty long window of supply – Queensland in the northern area which has been a traditional mandarin growing area is earlier.

“We anticipate that Tang-Gold grown in northern Australia will be in the market sometime in May and we’ll go to the southern parts of Australia that are traditionally Navel-growing areas, and we think it’s possible to have fruit harvested right through to October.

“We think there are opportunities with Tang-Gold from the domestic market perspective where we can range product for five months, and there will be a market for certain export markets,” he says, emphasizing Freshmax is still assessing where they will be, but there will be significant supply for U.S. and Canadian importers.

Looking at the overall situation, Maughan says seedless Tang-Gold will most likely be the main easy peeler cultivar, while Sumo Citrus and Gold Nuggets will occupy a different space in the market as IP varieties.

“Gold Nugget will be slightly more of a niche variety – it’s got that coarser texture to it. Sumo Citrus kind of sits in a different category; it’s larger, and it has exceptional eating quality.

“Tang-Gold will become what we believe will be the mainstream mid-to-late season easy peeler variety in Australia with very strong demand for counterseasonal supply into the Northern Hemisphere – the USA, Japan, Korea, China, Southeast Asia, the EU as well.”

Hispalco s.a. has been exporting fruit and vegetables to the European markets for over 20 years. Its brand Monna Lisa is known on the market as a quality brand of high prestige. “Her mysterious smile is a symbol and guarantee of quality, service and exclusivity. This challenge is difficult to control in these times, but we have made our position in the market and continue to grow,” says manager Jose Beltran.

The commercial department and quality controllers at Hispalco work with the producers every day to get the best results. After the success of Monna Lisa the company started their second brand Unicorn a number of years ago to serve a larger customer base.

At the moment the company is also working hard to strengthen the organic branch with the brand Hispalco Bio by creating a new product line, which distinguishes itself from the conventional line. These product have been grown 100% organically, and are organically certified.

The season of stone fruit, melons and watermelons is now in full swing. The company has also started selling cherries and grapes from Puglia and Sicily under the brands Gioconda and Unicorn. “The best plantations and varieties can be found in these regions of Italy. We will also offer French peaches and nectarines from Langedouc and Rousillon in the sizes A and AA from the end of July, also under the exclusive brands Unicorn and La Joconde, to offer the customers a quality products, as opposed to one Spanish variety with an increasingly low supply.”

Hispalco supports the idea of exporting more Piel de Sapo melons, as they are becoming increasing valued in the European markets. “With a sweeter and juicer flesh and longer shelf life the Piel de Sapo is a great product with added value,” says Jose Beltran. When we ask the manager of Hisplaco what the secret behind the success is, he answers; “There is no secret or magic potion. It’s a matter of hard work, remaining constant and being surrounded by people who share the same values and prove this by never losing their entrepreneurial spirit.”

The French kiwi season started well this year with an empty market. Chile had a very low crop this year and left an empty market for Northern Hemisphere kiwi producers, which resulted in good prices at the start.

Although an empty market is in favour of the growers and gave this year an earlier start to the sales. They couldn’t meet all the demand, as the kiwi needs to be ripened for a month after harvesting. “We want to guarantee the quality, so we need to respect this maturing time,” explains Jean-Baptiste Pinel from Prim’Land, who sells kiwis under their Oscar Kiwi brand.

The expectations for the sales this year looks promising. “The total volume of Europe is not so high, so prices will be good.” This year France will have an average season in terms of volume, brix level and sizing. The volume in France will be approximately 65,000 tons of kiwifruit, the Oscar brand is good for 15,000 tons.

The competition from Italy is severe. “The Italian volume is a bit higher than the French. However the French kiwi is a premium kiwifruit with a higher standard. So we need to do our best, as we also sell at a higher price.”

Prim’Land’s main destinations from kiwi is France, Europe, South East-Asia and some volumes go to United States and Canada.

The French kiwi season started well this year with an empty market. Chile had a very low crop this year and left an empty market for Northern Hemisphere kiwi producers, which resulted in good prices at the start.

Although an empty market is in favour of the growers and gave this year an earlier start to the sales. They couldn’t meet all the demand, as the kiwi needs to be ripened for a month after harvesting. “We want to guarantee the quality, so we need to respect this maturing time,” explains Jean-Baptiste Pinel from Prim’Land, who sells kiwis under their Oscar Kiwi brand.

The expectations for the sales this year looks promising. “The total volume of Europe is not so high, so prices will be good.” This year France will have an average season in terms of volume, brix level and sizing. The volume in France will be approximately 65,000 tons of kiwifruit, the Oscar brand is good for 15,000 tons.

The competition from Italy is severe. “The Italian volume is a bit higher than the French. However the French kiwi is a premium kiwifruit with a higher standard. So we need to do our best, as we also sell at a higher price.”

Prim’Land’s main destinations from kiwi is France, Europe, South East-Asia and some volumes go to United States and Canada.

The Israeli carrot market is waiting to see what the Rouble will to do. This will likely affect the demand for Russian importers. There is enough Israeli volume, as 90% is already in the ground, and the last 10% is for the end of January and will go to the local market.

Although there might be more demand in Europe, because of high temperatures the last couple of months and problems with mice, Israel is still waiting on Russia. “We have enough volume and we can supply Europe if there is demand, but Russia is 50% of our exports in a normal year,” says Rony Baruch from Gezer Shallit.

So if the rouble keeps going down, it may ask for a different approach to the export market for Israeli carrot exporters. “If we have to sell more to Europe we need to be flexible and meet their demands, which might ask us to harvest earlier to meet the sizes they prefer.” Not only size matters also the packing to Europe goes in big bags, while we send to Russia in 18 kilo.

Gezer Shallit also sends shipments to the United States, a market that still asks for a good volume. “We just have to wait and see if we have to go left or right.”

The California avocado deal has been hampered by a plethora of small-sized fruit, with Mexican producers providing most of the larger fruit for the past couple of months. But the avocado market is on an uptick as Mexico moves into a typical lag period and California fruit begins to have a more diverse size portfolio.

Rob Wedin, vice president of fresh sales for Calavo Growers Inc. in Santa Paula, CA, told The Produce News that “Mexico is barely importing any small fruit at all, while packers in California are getting better sizing every day.”

The result, he said, is a strengthening in the market. He said Mexico’s fruit, which has largely ranged from 32-48s, was down in volume the last week in June and should be down for most of July. It will be August, he predicted, before Mexico gets into big volume shipments again as its new crop begins.

At the same time, California is expected to have good size and good volume well into October.

At the beginning of the season, the California crop was estimated at about 515 million pounds, which is a big-volume crop. The smaller fruit during the first third of the season has reduced the estimate a bit, but most observers still expect it to be very close to the 500 million-pound figure.

Illustrating the size issue was Mark Carroll, senior director of purchasing and merchandising for produce and floral for Gelson’s Markets, which is a Southern California chain of 16 upscale stores.

Gelson’s typically supports the California avocado growers when their crop is in season, but this year it was mid-June before he was able to find enough large fruit for his conventional displays.

He said he was able to switch to organic avocados from California early in the season because he uses a 48 size in his organic displays. But he just wasn’t able to find enough of the 40 size and larger fruit for his conventional displays until mid-June.

Wedin said that most of the larger California Hass avocados that have been available are “Lamb Hass,” which is a slightly different variety though it does have the “Hass” designation and as the season wears on it is hardly distinguishable from the regular Hass. It does have a slightly smoother skin, especially early in the season.

Bob Lucy, who is a partner and handles sales at Del Rey Avocado Co. in Fallbrook, CA, cautioned that while the fruit is getting larger, it may be several weeks before there are consistent supplies across all sizes.

Lucy said many growers have been size picking for two months, literally taking any fruit with any size at all off the trees. So even though the fruit is now sizing at a much faster clip, he said it is going to take several weeks to completely fill the pipeline of all sizes.

So during the last week of June, the shipment of smaller fruit (60-72) from California actually increased as a percentage of total volume while larger fruit (40 and 48) declined, according to Lucy

Of course this was also caused by a several-dollar jump in the market place, which saw a strong demand for many sizes.

By the last week of June, the U.S. Market News Service reported that larger fruit from California was selling in the $ 35 to $ 37 range, while the smaller fruit was in the $ 28 to $ 30 range. Some of the smaller fruit was being sold in bags for attractive retail pricing on multiples.

Demand in Europe for Medjool dates has remained strong this year, with growers reporting enough demand to accommodate the product that’s been shipped.

“Demand is good and prices are good,” said Avi Dagul of Field Produce Marketing in Israel. “The Medjool date is a very good item that brings a very good income to the grower.” Total production for Israel is expected to be about 23,000 tons, while the total amount of trees in Israel is about 400,000.

Field Produce Marketing is expecting a growth of about 15%, comparing to last year. Though the company is not one of the biggest growers in Israel, its two packing houses ship enough dates throughout Europe to make it one of the top three exporters in the country. This year, exports have been good.

“There was very tough competition last year, and prices went down because of that on a few occasions,” said Dagul. “But you don’t see that this year. There is always competition, but this year there was enough demand that there was enough of a market for everyone.” Dagul attributes strong demand to the appeal of Medjool dates, which he says are nutritious and a good way to start the day. Interest for the item is so great that he’s increased his program for next season to 2,500 tons, in order to accommodate future demand.

“Around the world, there are about 35,000 tons of dates available for export,” said Dagul. “That’s a small quantity for the demand there is, so I see a good future for Medjool dates.”

Demand in Europe for Medjool dates has remained strong this year, with growers reporting enough demand to accommodate the product that’s been shipped.

“Demand is good and prices are good,” said Avi Dagul of Field Produce Marketing in Israel. “The Medjool date is a very good item that brings a very good income to the grower.” Total production for Israel is expected to be about 23,000 tons, while the total amount of trees in Israel is about 400,000.

Field Produce Marketing is expecting a growth of about 15%, comparing to last year. Though the company is not one of the biggest growers in Israel, its two packing houses ship enough dates throughout Europe to make it one of the top three exporters in the country. This year, exports have been good.

“There was very tough competition last year, and prices went down because of that on a few occasions,” said Dagul. “But you don’t see that this year. There is always competition, but this year there was enough demand that there was enough of a market for everyone.” Dagul attributes strong demand to the appeal of Medjool dates, which he says are nutritious and a good way to start the day. Interest for the item is so great that he’s increased his program for next season to 2,500 tons, in order to accommodate future demand.

“Around the world, there are about 35,000 tons of dates available for export,” said Dagul. “That’s a small quantity for the demand there is, so I see a good future for Medjool dates.”

Demand in Europe for Medjool dates has remained strong this year, with growers reporting enough demand to accommodate the product that’s been shipped.

“Demand is good and prices are good,” said Avi Dagul of Field Produce Marketing in Israel. “The Medjool date is a very good item that brings a very good income to the grower.” Total production for Israel is expected to be about 23,000 tons, while the total amount of trees in Israel is about 400,000.

Field Produce Marketing is expecting a growth of about 15%, comparing to last year. Though the company is not one of the biggest growers in Israel, its two packing houses ship enough dates throughout Europe to make it one of the top three exporters in the country. This year, exports have been good.

“There was very tough competition last year, and prices went down because of that on a few occasions,” said Dagul. “But you don’t see that this year. There is always competition, but this year there was enough demand that there was enough of a market for everyone.” Dagul attributes strong demand to the appeal of Medjool dates, which he says are nutritious and a good way to start the day. Interest for the item is so great that he’s increased his program for next season to 2,500 tons, in order to accommodate future demand.

“Around the world, there are about 35,000 tons of dates available for export,” said Dagul. “That’s a small quantity for the demand there is, so I see a good future for Medjool dates.”

Demand in Europe for Medjool dates has remained strong this year, with growers reporting enough demand to accommodate the product that’s been shipped.

“Demand is good and prices are good,” said Avi Dagul of Field Produce Marketing in Israel. “The Medjool date is a very good item that brings a very good income to the grower.” Total production for Israel is expected to be about 23,000 tons, while the total amount of trees in Israel is about 400,000.

Field Produce Marketing is expecting a growth of about 15%, comparing to last year. Though the company is not one of the biggest growers in Israel, its two packing houses ship enough dates throughout Europe to make it one of the top three exporters in the country. This year, exports have been good.

“There was very tough competition last year, and prices went down because of that on a few occasions,” said Dagul. “But you don’t see that this year. There is always competition, but this year there was enough demand that there was enough of a market for everyone.” Dagul attributes strong demand to the appeal of Medjool dates, which he says are nutritious and a good way to start the day. Interest for the item is so great that he’s increased his program for next season to 2,500 tons, in order to accommodate future demand.

“Around the world, there are about 35,000 tons of dates available for export,” said Dagul. “That’s a small quantity for the demand there is, so I see a good future for Medjool dates.”

Demand in Europe for Medjool dates has remained strong this year, with growers reporting enough demand to accommodate the product that’s been shipped.

“Demand is good and prices are good,” said Avi Dagul of Field Produce Marketing in Israel. “The Medjool date is a very good item that brings a very good income to the grower.” Total production for Israel is expected to be about 23,000 tons, while the total amount of trees in Israel is about 400,000.

Field Produce Marketing is expecting a growth of about 15%, comparing to last year. Though the company is not one of the biggest growers in Israel, its two packing houses ship enough dates throughout Europe to make it one of the top three exporters in the country. This year, exports have been good.

“There was very tough competition last year, and prices went down because of that on a few occasions,” said Dagul. “But you don’t see that this year. There is always competition, but this year there was enough demand that there was enough of a market for everyone.” Dagul attributes strong demand to the appeal of Medjool dates, which he says are nutritious and a good way to start the day. Interest for the item is so great that he’s increased his program for next season to 2,500 tons, in order to accommodate future demand.

“Around the world, there are about 35,000 tons of dates available for export,” said Dagul. “That’s a small quantity for the demand there is, so I see a good future for Medjool dates.”

Demand in Europe for Medjool dates has remained strong this year, with growers reporting enough demand to accommodate the product that’s been shipped.

“Demand is good and prices are good,” said Avi Dagul of Field Produce Marketing in Israel. “The Medjool date is a very good item that brings a very good income to the grower.” Total production for Israel is expected to be about 23,000 tons, while the total amount of trees in Israel is about 400,000.

Field Produce Marketing is expecting a growth of about 15%, comparing to last year. Though the company is not one of the biggest growers in Israel, its two packing houses ship enough dates throughout Europe to make it one of the top three exporters in the country. This year, exports have been good.

“There was very tough competition last year, and prices went down because of that on a few occasions,” said Dagul. “But you don’t see that this year. There is always competition, but this year there was enough demand that there was enough of a market for everyone.” Dagul attributes strong demand to the appeal of Medjool dates, which he says are nutritious and a good way to start the day. Interest for the item is so great that he’s increased his program for next season to 2,500 tons, in order to accommodate future demand.

“Around the world, there are about 35,000 tons of dates available for export,” said Dagul. “That’s a small quantity for the demand there is, so I see a good future for Medjool dates.”

Demand in Europe for Medjool dates has remained strong this year, with growers reporting enough demand to accommodate the product that’s been shipped.

“Demand is good and prices are good,” said Avi Dagul of Field Produce Marketing in Israel. “The Medjool date is a very good item that brings a very good income to the grower.” Total production for Israel is expected to be about 23,000 tons, while the total amount of trees in Israel is about 400,000.

Field Produce Marketing is expecting a growth of about 15%, comparing to last year. Though the company is not one of the biggest growers in Israel, its two packing houses ship enough dates throughout Europe to make it one of the top three exporters in the country. This year, exports have been good.

“There was very tough competition last year, and prices went down because of that on a few occasions,” said Dagul. “But you don’t see that this year. There is always competition, but this year there was enough demand that there was enough of a market for everyone.” Dagul attributes strong demand to the appeal of Medjool dates, which he says are nutritious and a good way to start the day. Interest for the item is so great that he’s increased his program for next season to 2,500 tons, in order to accommodate future demand.

“Around the world, there are about 35,000 tons of dates available for export,” said Dagul. “That’s a small quantity for the demand there is, so I see a good future for Medjool dates.”